That being said, let's jump in...
Book reviews are an important part of the reading and writing community.
As readers, we check out book reviews to help us decide if we want to read a certain book/series or not. Do people seem to enjoy it? Dislike it? Are there a lot of "poor writing" or "boring" comments? Have a bunch of people mentioned the tons of language or lust-filled scenes? Or has everyone been putting up glowing "amazing storyworld" and "beautiful writing style" comments?
As writers and authors, we understand the importance of good reviews. We bribe our readers with swag and free ebooks in exchange for honest reviews. If our book has only a few reviews, there's a chance readers are less likely to buy the book...
As a member of Rebellious Writing, I understand the importance of using reviews to warn readers of the possible sensitive material found in fiction. I don't want to waste my time (or be forever traumatized) by reading something that I'll eventually DNF because of content.
So you can imagine my slight annoyance when I look at reviews, and most of them are something along the lines of....
"OHHHHH MY POOR SMALL ADORABLE BABY BOB" (just insert the name of the cute, possibly angsty, male character from the book)
Me: *eyeroll*
HE'S SUCH A PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL
Me: sooooo ummmm is there anything in this book I need to be warned about?
HE IS MY NEW FICTIONAL BOYFRIEND
Me: Anything else about the book that you liked?
So maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit. :) But you get the picture. I'm hoping for some coherent "this was done really well and this is amazing and there are some swear words and maybe a kiss oh and I really liked this character, he's written so well and I loved his story arc."
As an author, I'll be honest and say that reviews purely consisting of "AHHHHHHH POOR SWEET BOB" will make me smile. After all, if I wrote such a sob story arc, I expect people to sob over it.
But as a reader, I would like more information. "POOR SWEET BOB" isn't going to make me want to read the book. "Well written storyworld with no language or sex" will definitely make me want to read the book.
So to recap...scream about that cute character all you want. But maybe provide a little more information about the book as well? So like, we kinda know what it's about besides the cute/amazing/traumatized guy?
Yes, thank you! Actually talking about what EXACTLY one liked/disliked/found interesting in a book (besides Sweet Bob, lol) is WHAT A BOOK REVIEW SHOULD BE. Screaming about characters is ok, within reason, but only if the rest of the review is relatively sane XD
ReplyDeleteYESSSSS like. I totally understand ranting about fave characters....but STILL....
DeleteOr maybe they could explain why they liked Poor Sweet Bob, like he's a well written character and has good/funny dialog! :D
ReplyDeleteI agree as much as I like getting those types of reviews.
ReplyDeleteThey probably aren't the most helpful to new readers.